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Alfonsinia
Alfonsinia, officially the Republic of Alfonsinia, is an island country in the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa, located 185 km off the coast of Accra, Ghana; with an area of 1,580 square kilometres (0.6100414 sq mi). Alfonsinia is, along with Equatorial Guinea, one of the only sovereign African states in which Spanish is an official language. Political Geography The country is located in the Gulf of Guinea in Western Africa, located 185 km off the coast of Accra, Ghana; with an area of 1,580 square kilometres (0.6100414 sq mi). It is roughly 960 km away from Bioko (Equatorial Guinea) and around 846 km away from São Tomé (São Tomé and Príncipe). Alfonsinia is divided into three provinces: El Valle (literally “The Valley”), La Selva (“The Jungle”) and the capital Kap Antoon in the northwest of the island acts as its own province. Kap Antoon is a small port city named after the small cape located in that area, with a population of around 25,000 people, and it contains the country’s only international airport: Kap Antoon International. The city used to be called “Cabo Antonio” until the country’s independence from Spain in 1936, when its name was changed by the Reiziger revolutionaries (“Reiziger” is a Dutch word, we will get to that later in the Demographics section). The only other notable towns on the island are Conpuval (its name is a Spanish syllabic abbreviation for Con'glomeración de '''Pu'eblos del 'Val'le) located in the Valley province in the east, and Bronpalme in the north of the Jungle province. The rest of the islands settlements are tiny villages populated by less than 100 people, like Enoâ Kisï, Yecla de Yeltes and Roya del Cura. The roads that connect the settlements across the island are infamously poorly built, and the roads in Kap Antoon are still dirt roads (the roads literally haven’t changed since the country gained its independence). Construction in general hasn’t progressed too much since the 1980’s mainly because of the government’s prohibition of building in the jungle. Physical Geography Alfonsinia may be a small island but its flora and fauna are incredibly diverse. The island is mainly tropical, and its climate is rather humid and warm throughout most of the year. As it is located in the Gulf of Guinea, its rain season is the same as that of Bioko, with most rain showers occurring between June and August. While most of the island is comprised of tropical jungle, the eastern part of the island is an arid and mountainous valley, with beautiful beaches in the south of the island. Fauna is also incredibly diverse, with many indigenous birds and monkeys inhabiting the jungle region. The country’s highest peak is Mount Mendizábal in the Valley province. Throughout most of their history, Alfonsinia’s economy was centered around fishing and exporting sugar and cacao to the Spanish motherland, but after the Alfonsine government discovered in the 1960’s that the island was rich with uranium ore deposits: things quickly changed. Alfonsinia was one of the primary exporters of uranium to the United States and the UK during the Cold War and also developed its own nuclear missiles (one of the only countries in Africa to do so. Despite the fact that the government publicly ended the country’s nuclear programme in 2000 after the end of the dictatorship, Alfonsinia is presumed to still possess many of them). So why is it that, despite all of its exports and good relations with the United States, it is widely considered a poor third-world country? The answer is: corruption. Something which has angered the population for many years, although they have only been able to publicly criticize this since the year 2000. Demographics The people of Alfonsinia are incredibly unique because they come from centuries of both Spanish and Dutch influence. The country is made up of around 50,000 people. The country is made up of numerous ethnic groups: * The native African '''Bubi people comprise 60% of the total population. * The white Laagspaans speaking Reizigers make up 35% of the population. * The remaining 5% is mainly made up of European immigrants that have come in the recent years, mostly Spaniards. Languages The country has two official languages: Spanish and Laagspaans. Laagspaans, which means “Low Spanish”, is a Germanic language which evolved from the Dutch spoken in the Spanish Netherlands in the 17th century. Alfonsinia was discovered in 1624 by voyagers (“reizigers”) from the Spanish Netherlands, and most of the towns on the island were established by these settlers. The island’s enforced language was the upper-class Spanish tongue of the royal court of Madrid, but the settlers of ethnically Dutch descent carried on speaking Dutch in private or at home. This Dutch eventually mixed in with Spanish and the Bubi language of the native Bantu people that originally lived there, which eventually gave us what we call “Low Spanish” or Laagspaans. We can’t exactly consider it a Dutch dialect nor a daughter language of Dutch because there are very strong differences between the two due to heavy Spanish and Bubi influence. For example: While this language is mainly spoken at home, Spanish is the main language for business and education, and all citizens are obligated to have at least an intermediate level of Spanish in order to be employed. Religion When it comes to religion, 70% of the country is Roman Catholic, 20% is Calvinist, another 10% is Muslim, 6% practice the religion of the native Bantu inhabitants, and the remaining 4% claim to have no religious affiliation. History Prior to its colonization, the island of Alfonsinia had been inhabited by Bantu people for more than six centuries. During the peak of the Spanish Empire, the island was discovered by Spanish Dutch sailors known as Reizigers ("voyagers" in Dutch) in the year 1625. These sailors claimed the island for Spain that very year and founded the town of Cabo Antonio in the northwest just a year later. The capital city was officially denominated La Más Noble y Honorable Villa del Cabo de Antonio ''(Spanish: "The Most Noble and Honourable Town of the Cape of Antonio"), but its name was eventually reduced to just Cabo Antonio in 1808 (however the sign bearing the town's original official name can still be seen at the entrance of the historic old town). There is a common misconception about who the island of Alfonsinia was named after. Most people tend to incorrectly say that it was named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain, the last Bourbon King of Spain before the Republic, solely because there is a statue of him in the country’s capital Kap Antoon. This is absolutely untrue. It was actually named after the medieval King of Castile Alfonso X The Wise, who ruled from 1252–1284. In 1702, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1701-14), the island's capital Cabo Antonio was the location of a battle between the inhabitants of the town, who had pledged their allegiance to the Bourbon candidate Philip of Anjou, and Dutch allies of the Grand Alliance loyal to the House of Habsburg. The assaulting Grand Alliance defeated the resistance in Cabo Antonio and temporarily occupied the town. While they controlled it, the ethnically Dutch Spanish settlers were encouraged to speak Dutch in public instead of the Spanish tongue of the Empire, something which would be pivotal in the development of the island's Germanic language which would be known as Laagspaans. In 1714, as the war was reaching its end, 33 Bourbon soldiers, with the assistance of the townsfolk, took back control and kicked out the Dutch invaders. When the Spanish monarchy was ousted in the 1931 municipal elections and the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed, five members of the far-right Reiziger supremacist group '''Blauetraak' and ex-Armada officers Jule Winvieel. Anders van die Vaal, Markus Troppe, Lars Lokraaupe and Wikus Ruhlemann attempted to storm the Governor's Manor in Cabo Antonio, make Alfonsinia secede from Spain and install a Reiziger-supremacist government with Laagspaans as the sole official language in what was known as the First Reiziger coup, which failed when the Republican Guardias de Asalto showed enough resistance to successfully prevent the coup and keep the island under Spanish control. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in 1936, however, the same revolutionaries tried to do the same thing again now that there was less stability. The Second Reiziger coup was successful, and Alfonsinia was declared an independent country. A constitution was written in August of 1936, establishing Alfonsinia as a sovereign republic with "liberty and justice for its own children, the pure Reiziger race". An unelected government came to power, and there was no single head of state, but a seven-member committee known as the Directory, consisting of the five revolutionaries that gained Alfonsinia's independence along with Dutch-born former banker Breyten Weidekamp and lawyer Carles Kell. The Directory was composed only of Reizigers, and discriminated the Spanish and native African population. The following year, the new Directory''' banned the Spanish language across the island and established measures to get rid of as many colonial Spanish elements as possible and replace them with Reiziger elements (except elements like the Plaza del Rey, whose name change many citizens who still felt somewhat loyal to Spain prevented). The capital Cabo Antonio was given a new official name in Laagspaans: '''Kap Antoon (the name it possesses to this day); and the ethnically black Bantu village of Luba was renamed Bronpalme by the Reiziger Directory. Not just the city's name, but native black citizens with Bubi names were forced to change their names to Laagspaans ones, and ethnically European citizens with Spanish names were forced to change their names into translated versions: people named "Agustín" had to change their names to "Augustijn", "Pedro" became "Pieter", "Rebeca" became "Rebekka", "Susana" became "Suuzanne"...). Some towns such as Conpuval and the villages of Roya del Cura and Yecla de Yeltes were spared of name changes after paying the Directory. By the mid 1940's, the members of the Directory were divided on the issue of decentralization. Some thought that the country had to be even more centralized, to the point that even the three provinces would be abolished and governed directly by the Directory (which would also reinforce right-wing Alfonsine nationalism), while others thought that decentralization would keep things better under control. This split caused Jule Winvieel, Wikus Ruhlemann and Breyten Weidekamp to step down from the Directory, and made the Directory far more authoritarian. After this racist and undemocratic Directory government collapsed in the 1950's and the country became a democratic republic, the Spanish language was reintroduced and was made co-official along with Laagspaans. However, the capital retained its Laagspaans name Kap Antoon, and many of its landmarks and also its inhabitants were forced to retain their forcefully-translated names. In 1963, the monumental discovery of uranium ore deposits changed everything for the government. Alfonsinia was one of the primary exporters of uranium to the United States and the UK during most of the Cold War and started developing its own nuclear missiles in 1970 (one of the only countries in Africa to do so). In 1979, the country's President Luuk van Die Kap, of the Liga Conservadora Alfonsina ("Alfonsine Conservative League") had low approval ratings and was widely considered a weak leader. Around the same time, the Soviets were planning on installing their own puppet government in Alfonsinia by ousting the already weak and uncharismatic Van Die Kap in a coup d'etat and replacing him with Colonel Horacio Juaneda, a high-ranking military officer with strong communist beliefs and a sympathizer with the Soviet Union. The CIA and members of the US Army conducted a highly classified military operation to prevent Juaneda from gaining power and turning Alfonsinia into a Soviet satellite state. Willem Bauhammer, leader of a small ultraconservative and nationalist political party known as the Popspartij ("People's Party"), was slowly starting to gain prominence and following around the same time as the planned coup d'etat. The Americans became aware of Bauhammer's strong presence and his charisma, and noticed his hatred of communism and his right-wing and West-leaning beliefs. Seeing the opportunity, the Americans decided to support Bauhammer after Colonel Juaneda had officially ousted President Van Die Kap. After two days of Alfonsinia being under the military authority of Horacio Juaneda, Willem Bauhammer, with a branch of the Alfonsine Military and with help from American soldiers, performed a second coup against the communists and "took back control" in December of 1979. Willem Bauhammer was officially inaugurated as the new President of Alfonsinia in February of 1980 in a huge and lavish ceremony comparable to that of stereotypical African dictators of the time, which cost the Alfonsine government roughly US $10 million. Bauhammer, as President, introduced radical economic and administrative reforms, scrapped elections, had a notoriously tough stance on immigration, political enemies and was responsible for the privatization of nearly all state-owned companies, the underdeveloped state of Kap Antoon which remains unaltered to this day and, more infamously, widespread human rights abuses. Bauhammer died in 1999, which symbolically ended his rule over the country. Even though his successor Jaime Barbuzano Winvieel (grandnephew of Reiziger coup participant and Directory member Jule Winvieel) was elected democratically in the 2000 general elections, he was a high-ranking member of the Popspartij, the party of the supposedly finished regime. Willem Bauhammer's Popspartij remains in power and has never been ousted. This extreme corruption and manipulation of democracy led to the 2011 Kap Antoon riots, which protested against the Popspartij's monopoly. Politics The country’s government is nominally a unitary dominant-party parliamentary constitutional republic under President Raúl Castejón Beeldhouwer (in office since 2008), although, despite the country being a democracy, the far-right Popspartij (“People’s Party” in Laagspaans) has remained in power since the 1980’s and has never been ousted since. The party has been a source of heavy controversy ever since they gained power because of its pro-white settler ideology, which has given them an ultraconservative image; and also because it is led by loyalists of the country’s iron-fisted president from 1980 to 1999, Willem Bauhammer Rascón. Bauhammer wasn't a dictator per se, but much like British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, was known for his uncompromising politics and strong leadership style as a staunch anti-communist, and had a notoriously tough stance on immigration, political enemies and was responsible for the privatization of nearly all state-owned companies, the underdeveloped state of Kap Antoon which remains unaltered to this day and, more infamously, widespread human rights abuses. Culture Culture-wise, Alfonsinia is known for its mysterious sculpture work characteristic of the Bantu culture. Many musicians and artists originated from the island too, like reggae musician Rafi Mokole, rapper Byg D0lla, painter Sisonke Muatetema, pop star Hendrik Wisser, etc. The staple dish of the island is a native dish called Euëra, comprised of rice and peas covered in peanut sauce (something which was added on later when it was brought over by the Reiziger settlers in the 17th century). Other notable dishes are peanut cream parrotfish with plantain, and "'botellines'", a curious take on Spanish tapas consisting on small appetizers inside recycled beer bottles which are eaten with a type of skewer (a custom which surged in the 1950's). In addition, Spanish and Dutch dishes like paella and erwtensoep can be found all across the country. International relations Because of its heavy cultural and social influence from Europe, the country very much sticks out in the African continent. Ghana, Togo and Equatorial Guinea are probably their closest allies in Africa because of their proximity to one another and also because of their shared history of commerce and diplomacy. A huge number of Bubi people also live in Bioko, so the island’s natives are close to Equatorial Guinea ethnically speaking. Relations with Nigeria are complicated as they have had several heated disputes during the 80’s and 90’s, but they are currently at peace. Alfonsinia’s best friends though would probably be Spain and the USA. Spain because of the past it has had with the island and with the heavy influence, and the USA has helped them out politically (mainly during an attempted communist coup in the 70’s) and economically to some degree (even though the corrupt Popspartij government has been secretly hiding that money and using it to build mansions for important politicians far away from the public). Category:Africa Category:West Africa Category:Small Countries